Seeking the Truth About Quebec’s Economy

To oversimplify – but only slightly – there are two wildly divergent theses concerning Quebec’s economy and provincial social policy currently in play among policy wonks across Canada. The first is that Quebec has successfully generated the most egalitarian society in North America, and deserves credit for doing so. Any sacrifice in average per capita provincial GDP has been worth it. The most persistent proponents of this case are leaders of the Parti Québécois such as former Premier Bernard Landry and journalists such as Jean-François Lisée, whose numerous contributions to Inroads include a vigorous defence of the “Quebec model” in 2003.1

John Richards is a member of the faculty in the Graduate Public Policy School at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He has written extensively on social policy in Canada, primarily via the C.D. Howe... Read More